


Flyaway

by queenofthewips (lilithduvare)



Series: Queenie's Stucky AU Mess [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Body Dysphoria, Body Modification, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Chronic Illness, Human Experimentation, M/M, Non-Serum Steve Rogers/Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes | Shrinkyclinks, Olympian!Bucky, Personal Growth, Personal Trainer!Steve, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Slow Burn, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, story idea, story outline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 08:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7795042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilithduvare/pseuds/queenofthewips
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve's biggest dream was to become a Olympic Champion in Judo. Instead he ends up as a personal trainer for disabled people because that's the most his body's limits allow him to do. </p><p>Bucky is America's darling, a 6 time Olympic Champion in Gymnastics, who falls victim of the inner cruelty of Sport Politics and loses his left arm and will to live in the process. </p><p>Thanks to their great friends they end up meeting. But the sparks that fly between them aren't the romantic kind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flyaway

**Author's Note:**

> This is just an outline for a story I wish to write once I'm done with my Stucky Big Bang fic, so it's nearly 2k words of me rambling about what I want to happen in the story. Still, I'm curious what you guys might think of it.

So basically, Steve is a skinny, sickly kid who dreams of becoming an Olympic champion in Judo, but because of his sickly body no coach takes him seriously and they keep telling him that he will never make it. After the last time he’s turned away by a club, he starts researching what he can do. And finds Dr. Erskine’s revolutionary training  method for preparing athletes for the Paralympics. The method is based on body building techniques that require slow motion work out and yoga, strengthening the core of the person. Steve falls in love with it and he takes a PT online exam/course to have the certification for working at gyms. He loves his work and while people look at him strange at first because of his small body that doesn’t match his deep voice, soon enough all of his clients sing his name and he gets pretty well known in the disabled community.

Bucky is a 6 time Olympic champion in gymnastics, America’s darling who goes into surgery after breaking the ligament in his shoulder and contracts an infection that nearly costs him his life and does cost him his left arm thanks to Alexander Pierce’s (the head coach of Team USA) machinations (who has been messing with the USA national gymnastic team for years without anyone the wiser — this time he wants Rumlow in Bucky’s place to get more money through sponsorship). Desperate to get his life back on track, Bucky doesn’t question when a doctor at the hospital approaches him (he’s still fully shot with morphium and thinks his life just ended anyway) and offers him a chance to be part of a new experimentation program that offers amputee patients fully operating real life looking robotic arms. And of course because it’s experimental no one has to know about it and if it works Bucky can go back to being a pro athlete just fine. Pierce of course fully supports this idea, and Bucky, far from being in the right mind agrees to the procedure.

He wakes up with a metal arm and his life ruined for good in his eyes. He becomes near catatonic, not caring about anything even when Natasha comes and takes him home furious and worried. He refuses to attend physical therapy, careless about the piling up articles about his disappearance. Then one day someone leaks a photo of him with his metal arm visible and a story about him choosing questionable methods to get back on the top after the surgery. Some rags go as far as accusing him of having his arm amputated on purpose just so he would be able to compete harder with his new arm. But Bucky doesn’t care. He hides away in his apartment with the blinds drawn, not talking to anyone, not even Natasha (who goes on a rampage and not only hires a lawyer to sue the papers for defamation of character but does a press release and several posts about what really happened.

Because of the dangerous nature of the procedure not to mention the human experimentation part, it doesn’t take long before the FBI gets involved. Taking Zola in is easy enough, but gathering evidence against Pierce takes time. Not that Bucky really shows any interest in any of this. When questioned, he tells Agent Morita and Dugan what he knows and what he remembers after his first surgery, but otherwise he doesn’t want to think about it ever again. He pops pills against the pains in his back because of the weight of his arm and is content to spend his day in bed or on the couch doing nothing. That is until Natasha takes things into her hand again and pushes Steve’s number into his hand, ordering him to call.

The guy who answers when Bucky does days later under Natasha’s heavy glare, is nice enough. His voice is deep and Bucky can just imagine that he’s this huge, perfectly muscled god who never had a common cold in his life. He hates him already. Then after the guy signs the NDA in front of Natasha and gets the green light, they organize a meeting which is like the most active thing Bucky has done in months. And Natasha agrees to offer her place for the meeting, because Bucky refuses to have a stranger over and insist on wearing long sleeves and a glove. And he’s really expecting some sort of Hercules to walk through the front door after the guy rings the bell. So of course he’s beyond shocked when the pint sized pretty boy who enters Natasha’s condo introduces himself as his new PT. Sue him for laughing in disbelief and rounding on Natasha for being a bitch and fucking with him.

Except it’s not a joke and the guy is seriously supposed to be the person who will help him get back into shape and use his arm. Lashing out and mocking the guy seems like the only route to avoid that tragedy. Natasha’s lips thin into a dangerous line and she’s obviously ready to murder him when Steve speaks up and calls Bucky an over-privileged, spoiled asshole who is so busy throwing never ending pityparties for himself that he can’t see the miracle he was offered. He goes as far as telling Bucky he disgusts him and then stands up, apologizes to Natasha for not taking the contract and leaves. Bucky feels like someone just gutted him and is left wide-eyed before the rage settles in, only to be dosed by Natasha’s own anger that calls him an idiot and telling him how ashamed she is of his behavior. She leaves with a parting “maybe instead of lazying on your couch do your research before you open your fucking mouth, Barnes.”

Bucky is stricken and determined to not care ad just go back to things as they were, but he can’t stop thinking of the guy and what he said. So he googles Steve Rogers. And finds out he’s been working for a gym for six years specializing in disabled therapy. He even has a small fan group on Facebook and a whole blog dedicated to him on Tumblr both made and followed by people who worked with him before or just admire his dedication. And it’s easy enough to find out that Steve is the exact opposite of Bucky. Because according to a tumblr post that quotes him, Steve did his best to become pro at Judo, but no one would take him because of his illnesses, and boy does he have a lot! It’s quite a humbling experience for Bucky, especially when he reads some of the posts the facebook group members write.

In the mean time, Steve is called an equally big idiot by his friend Sam, who tells him just because he has it worse, doesn’t mean he has the right to be rude to those who might not. Because he has no idea what it feels like to be practically perfect and then having it ripped away from him. And Steve feels bad, obviously, so after some remorseful thinking he calls Bucky and apologizes. And Bucky says he’s sorry too and they agree to try working together. And it’s hard because there are days when Bucky barely wants to get out of bed and is grouchy and just hates the world. But Steve is a little sadist who doesn’t let him laze off, and keeps coming back. When the phantom pains are too bad, he makes Bucky do some light exercises instead of their regular routine.  And slowly but surely Bucky gets better. He sees the success he’s having. Sees the slow but sure reappearance of muscles that help him lift the metal arm attached to him without causing any more damage to his body. He starts seeing a therapist that helps him come to terms with what happened to him. And with his growing feelings for Steve.     

Steve falls for Bucky as well, but he doesn’t date people he trains. So they remain friends for months, hanging out for hours after Bucky’s evening sessions, eating disgustingly healthy food and drinking smoothies instead of beer because Steve’s allergies prevent him from eating anything too greasy or drinking anything alcoholic. And Bucky finds he likes it. Especially the desserts. But his new life too.

So of course things crash and burn when Alexander Pierce is arrested for attempted murder and several other crimes. The reporters that has been started to forget about Bucky turn their attention back on him full force. Somehow finding out about Steve too. The fact one rag goes as far as out Bucky to the public as gay (he’s pansexual thank you very much) isn’t even a problem in his eyes. That they try to drag Steve down when he refuses to share anything about Bucky enrages him beyond control.  It starts with a simple tweet, and the next thing he knows #ToTheEndOfTheLine is trending worldwide. They get a crazy amount of attention that nearly sends Bucky into an anxiety spiral. He’s terrified Steve will wash his hands of him and never talk to him again, but Steve doesn’t. He stays and is with Bucky, standing by him when Natasha talks him into doing an interview and a youtube video and when he has to testify at Zola and Pierce’s trials.

And they get together of course. Pierce and Zola go to prison, while Bucky ends up working with kids who aspire to be gymnasts when they grow up. And Steve keeps working with his clients and also with Bucky to keep him in shape. But now Bucky is his training partner and not his trainee.   


End file.
